service marketing essay

Hey there! Free trials are available for Standard and Essentials plans. Start for free today.

Service Business Marketing 101: Basics and Tips

Follow these service business marketing tips to connect with your customers and build your business. Grasp the basics to launch your business to new heights.

Marketing is a key component of any successful business today, whether the business is primarily online or conducted locally. However, marketing a service business is a bit different than marketing a specific product or a brand that offers a line of products. Knowing how to market a service can significantly increase traffic (both online and off), increase clients, and ultimately increase revenue.

What is a service business?

A service business is a business that promotes and offers a service as its main entity. Rather than selling manufactured products, a service business rendered specialty services that may require the assistance of a professional or a trained specialist.

A service business typically either relies on people or on equipment to deliver services rendered. Service businesses that rely on other professionals to conduct businesses include law firms, accounting agencies, graphic design agencies, and even electrical repair companies. Service businesses that are heavily reliant on equipment to provide services include airlines, which require airplanes, and even movie theaters, which require food equipment and screen projectors.

The basics of service business marketing

When you are building a people-powered brand that offers services, knowing the ins and outs of service marketing is essential. Understanding how to market a service begins with familiarizing yourself with the basics of service business marketing.

Establishing credibility and building trust

To successfully market any service business, establishing credibility and building trust among your target audience is a must. Service businesses rely on satisfied customers who are willing to refer their own friends and family to the business in the future.

Building a service business from the ground up is not always possible without first establishing the values you stand for as well as the mission and objective of your service business itself. Defining the values that are most important to your service business can also help you to home in on the demographics you want to reach and why.

Effective messaging

Effective messaging and communication go a long way, especially when it comes to developing a working service marketing strategy. When you know exactly what it is that your customers want and need, it is much easier to convey the exact message they are hoping to hear.

Customization and personalization

Regardless of the type of service you provide to customers and clients, offering customized services is always advisable. Providing your clients and customers with top-tier individualized services can help to build brand loyalty and trust . Because the service industry today heavily focuses on personalization, providing custom service plans for clients can go a long way when it comes to your own service marketing strategy.

7 service marketing tips

Immersing yourself in service marketing does not have to feel daunting, intimating, or overwhelming, especially once you have an idea of where to begin.

Establish your brand identity

One of the first steps to take when you are marketing a service is to establish a brand identity and values that reflect your business and its mission. Establishing your brand identity and the values your brand represents can help to further determine what demographics you should attempt to target and how to go about reaching them, online and off.

When you know the brand identity of your business, it is also much easier to craft copy and messaging that is most likely to resonate with your target audience.

Build a sense of community

A key component in building any successful service business is the ability to build a sense of community among those who are most actively engaged with the services you provide.

Building a sense of community can come from launching an ongoing newsletter or even expanding your service company's online presence with the use of social media. Using social media platforms is often one of the best ways to streamline digital marketing efforts when it comes to attracting new followers and generating interest in a particular idea, product, or service.

Distribute business cards and marketing materials locally

If you are offering services to locals in your city or nearby community, consider the option of distributing business cards and official marketing materials to help spread the word about the services you provide. You can also use official business cards and marketing materials to connect with local entrepreneurs, vendors, and business owners who may be interested in promoting the services you offer in exchange for a similar promotional opportunity.

Distributing business cards that appear professional, modern, and sleek will also help to establish and build credibility among prospective clients. Business cards that are poorly designed or appear outdated may leave a negative impression on those who receive them, which is why a well-designed business card matters, especially when it comes to establishing and building a brand new service business.

Consistent communication is key

Consistent communication is crucial when it comes to building a successful service business. From politely and professionally responding to customer reviews to offering discounts, there are many ways to communicate as a service business while simultaneously winning over customers. Developing a regular newsletter for locals, online visitors, and loyal customers can also provide valuable insight into the wants and needs of your target audience.

Connect with local media and social influencers

Establishing trust and building a service business from the ground up is not as easy as delivering quality services. You will likely need to connect with local social influencers online as well as with local media offline to help in building even more credibility surrounding your brand. Even if you are offering your services locally, using online influencers, blogs, and even social media can help to generate the foot traffic and interest that you need to generate sales and revenue.

Taking the time to make connections with local media groups as well as online media or promotional groups that are relevant to your niche and industry can also help significantly in terms of generating buzz and driving traffic to your website . Working together with influencers as well as those who are involved in local and online media can help you to spread the word about the type of services you offer, even if you intend to enter into a highly saturated and competitive market.

Place quality over quantity and price

With any service business, quality over quantity matters. The quality of the services you offer will have the biggest impact on how others view your business and whether or not they will return to your business for services again in the future. Ensuring that the quality of the service(s) you provide is better than any other company near you is essential to truly stand out while you establish yourself as a service company.

When marketing your service business, emphasize the importance of the quality of services you offer and how the quality does, in fact, impact the daily lives of your customers and clients. Highlight the reasons why the quality of your services matters and how low-quality services in the same industry can result in a detrimental or disastrous outcome for your clients. Focusing on pain points as well as on the solutions your service company brings to the table can also help to drive home the messaging you are trying to convey to prospective customers. You can also focus on what sets your services business apart to help garner even more attention to the services you provide.

Make customer service a top priority

As a service business, your customer service philosophy should be one of the most important components of managing your day-to-day operations. Service businesses rely on happy and satisfied customers and can quickly go out of business if they choose to neglect their customer service duties.

When you own a service business, ensuring that the level of customer service you provide to your customers is top-notch at all times is imperative. If you have local competition, you will need to strive to offer more in terms of service as well as customer support if you want to keep your business running smoothly and successfully.

Consider the type of customer service solutions you have available to those who are interested in your services. Do you have other service workers available on-site to help answer questions and respond to inquiries? Is it best to implement a live chatbot on your website to provide guidance to visitors who would like to learn more about the services you offer? Does your website have a FAQ, or a Frequently Asked Questions, section available to the public?

Start marketing your business

Whether you are trying to market a small business for the first time or if you are looking to expand your service marketing strategies, knowing the basics of service marketing can go a long way with your next campaign, whether it is online or off. With the use of Mailchimp, streamline your service marketing efforts, whether you are marketing a service geared towards a niche audience or if you are attempting to grow and scale your entire business and brand.

Essay on Services Marketing Management

Introduction

The service industry requires a firm to incorporate several core concepts that can project them to improved operations in the market. There is a need to understand the significance of some ideas in the services marketing management. The report encompasses the service concept, understanding customer types, and to a large extent, the gaps model. In the research, much focus will be accorded to purpose, application and limitations of the concepts as it pertains to the success of a service providing organization.

The Service Concept

The service concept defines the need that the organization wants to satisfy among consumers in the market. The service concept encompasses perceptions that are held in the society or market regarding the services that an organization provides. It is critical to examine the role that the service concept plays in helping an organization achieve the set objectives.

Purpose of the Service Concept

The service concept plays a crucial role in the market for a firm that operates in the service industry. It helps determine the desired outcomes in the market ad value of the service provider. Understanding the scope of the service concept helps create a culture in the market that promotes the need for company services (Huotari and Hamari, 2017). When a company or organization understands perceptions that the consumers are having on the services, it can easily adjust its operations in favor of the consumer. With no or little knowledge about market notions, a firm might not be able to detect areas that are problematic in the industry. The service concept is essential in designing or re-designing services that have benefit and value to customers in the market. As such, the concept is widely applicable by companies to improve their services in a specific direction. For a firm to succeed in the service provision industry, there is a need to apply the approach for a better understanding of what roles should be prioritized to create value. Most service providing organizations have different options for what consumers can choose. Primarily, a firm applies the service concept to design and re-design existing services lines in the market.

Application

The service concept is widely applicable in many service-based organizations in the world (Huotari and Hamari, 2017). For instance, a firm can apply the concept to boost the loyalty that customers have for a specific service brand. The service concept is used to devise strategies that can see a company achieve its objectives while satisfying the needs of consumers. The management in a service providing firm must incorporate vital ideas that encompass the phenomenon of service concept for improved productivity. Customer loyalty is increased as the firm concentrates objectively on serving the needs within a population. The service concept can help a firm realize the direction that the firm is headed in terms of provision of services. Understanding the concept helps define the operations of the firm and outline how objectives set can be achieved. For instance, the marketing of services in a firm requires knowledge on the market and the existing opportunities. Understanding the phenomenon of service concept can help boost the marketing abilities of various organizations in the industry. The service concept outlines for a firm the way that services will be delivered, customers direct experience with the service, benefits of the service to the customer, and the value of the service weighed against the cost of receiving the service. As such, service concept is widely applicable in the designing of various marketing strategies, which are essential to the operations of the company.

Limitations

Application of the service concept has limitations that challenge successful running of a firm in the service industry. First, there is a challenge in linking the business strategy and service designing. Service provision is different and requires more complicated approaches to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Depending on the model a firm is using to market their products in the industry, a conflict of interest might arise between the designing of the services, which could be different from the outlined business strategy. The link between business strategy and designing of services forms a significant basis for the deficiency with the service concept. Second, the lack of consideration for measuring the performance of a service financially poses a problem to the application of the service concept (Costa, Patrício and Morelli, 2015). For some time now, most service industries do not consider the financial performance of a service in the market when applying the service concept. The fact has created a deficiency in the efficacy of the service concept to drive the organization to success.

Understanding Customer Types

There is a need to understand customer types in the market in a bid to satisfy their needs as far as service provision is concerned. It is vital to analyze the concept of understanding customer types, unravelling its purpose, application and limitations.

There are four types of customers in a service-based market, namely loyal, impulse, discount, wandering clients and need-based customers. Understanding the types of consumers in the market helps a firm formulate strategies, which are productive to the operations of the organization (Xu, Wang, Li and Haghighi, 2017). For instance, a loyal customer might have different needs as compared to a wandering customer in the market. As such, all firms in the service industry must conduct an analysis of its consumer market to determine various behavioral characteristics. Such behavioral attributes can help design services that meet their exact needs within the market. Failure to understand customer behavior might have a dire consequence on the sales that the firm makes in a particular period. Therefore, a focus on the consumer and factors that affect their consumption can be helpful to a firm. Understanding consumer behavior ensures that a firm produces services that add value according to the needs of an individual in the market.

The idea of understanding the types of customers for a firm is applied to many industries globally. Understanding consumer behavior helps answer questions that are vital for the organization to deliver reputable services to the public. For instance, it is through customer understanding that a firm can be able to know why consumers need a particular service such information is applicable in designing of appealing and value-creating services to all consumers in the market. Consumer behavior determines the approach that a firm can apply in the marketing of all services that are provided. For instance, the firm can know whether the individuals are purchasing for other people or for own consumption. Such information is crucial as it helps in determining the right message and promotion channel to use in marketing. Frequency of purchase for a specific service can act as a guide to service provision within an industry. To an extent, understanding customer behavior makes it easier to predict future demand trends for the same, which helps serve the needs of the market. Service providing firms are obliged to conduct a consumer behavioral analysis to determine needs that should be satisfied among clients.

Understanding customer types and their needs is useful for firms to design desirable services that meet their needs. The first challenge in the application of consumer theory in service-providing industries is market uncertainty (Durugbo and Erkoyuncu, 2016). Uncertainties in the market pose a challenge to the understanding of various concepts that encompass consumer behavior. Service provision industries operate in a relatively dynamic environment, which makes it a challenge to keep the firm updated. Such changes in the market result in uncertainties that make it difficult to predict the future direction of the industry. Second, misleading myths on consumer behavior serves as a significant challenge to the understanding of the concept. Managers and leaders in firms have wrong notions about consumers that mislead their decision-making process.

The Gap Model

The model was designed in the year 1985 to explain consumer expectations and gaps that should be considered by firms in the provision of services. The model primarily addresses the gaps that are vital in luring a customer to purchase a specific service. The first is the knowledge gap. The model asserts that knowledge gap sometimes exists as a result of expectations versus the provisions of the company. The discrepancy arises when management lacks a clue on what the customers want (Abu-El Samen, Akroush and Abu-Lail, 2013). The policy gap, the delivery gap, communication gap and the customer gap form a basis for the gap model in tapping existing potential. The firm can take advantage of the existing gaps to gain a competitive advantage in service provision. The purpose of the model is to identify existing gaps in consumer expectations and the actual services that the firm produces for the market. With a detailed view of consumer expectations, a firm can try to reduce the gaps for improved service provision to consumers. For instance, reducing the gap between expectations and provision s of the service can prove helpful in improving sales. It is the role of organizations to apply the gap model in a bid to solve issues on customer expectations and satisfaction.

The concept of the gap model is widely applicable in many organizations with a view of reducing the gap between the actual service provided and the expectations among consumers. The theory can be applied to improve the quality of service that a firm can provide to customers. For instance, when management understands the gap that exists in the market regarding its products and satisfaction, it is easier to make improvements without a clue, a firm might repeat the same mistakes that widen the gap between expectations and actual services provided. As such, the gap model is advantageous to the firm that applies its concepts in approaching market issues. Also, the concept of the gap model can be used to determine areas in the organizational strategy that need adjustments for sustainable service provision (Amiri and Faghani, 2012). As such, the model is essential to the management of firms that operate in the service industry. Understanding consumer expectations and perceptions is the firm’s step towards the provision of quality services sustainably.

Conducting a gap analysis is an essential strategy, though lack of actionable steps that the model provides proves to be a limitation. Most organizations that use the model have failed to incorporate actions in their implementation of the guidelines. The model can only be useful if the guidelines listed are supported by actions for the organization to realize an effect. Policy on paper can make sense if implemented using the right strategy and procedure (Hafiz and Alam, 2016). Seasonal fluctuations in the market act as a limitation to the application of the model in the service industry. For instance, change in tastes and preferences within the market can lead to fluctuations, which limit the use of the concept in an organization. The framework of the model fails to address issues of fluctuation as a challenge to its application. Increased competition in an industry can limit a firm’s ability to tap existing potential in the market. The gap model analysis should be conducted in a specific industry, say service provision, which makes it difficult for other firms to do one. Also, a gap analysis does not encompass the actions of competitor firms. Instead, firms should concentrate on analyzing markets where competitors are establishing to have a glimpse of current trends. Such limitations have challenged the validity of the model in services marketing management.

In conclusion, the concepts discussed are crucial to the establishment of a sustainable services marketing management strategy. For instance, the service concept helps firm familiarize with the needs of the market and how they can create value. Critics of the service concept believe it is ineffective since it fails to capture the price of the service in its framework. Equally, understanding consumer behavioral traits can help an organization design its services to meet the needs in the market. The concept of the gaps model is applicable in the service industry as it provides an insight into the existing potential that should be tapped. Knowledge in the market is crucial in decision making by different players. As such, there is a need to analyze the market and establish existing gaps that can provide the potential for the firm to do better.

Abu-El Samen, A.A., Akroush, M.N. and Abu-Lail, B.N., 2013. Mobile SERVQUAL: A comparative analysis of customers’ and managers’ perceptions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management , 30 (4), pp.403-425.

AMIRI, A.S. and Faghani, F., 2012. Mobile banking service quality and customer satisfaction (application of SERVQUAL model).

Costa, N., Patrício, L. and Morelli, N., 2015. Designing integrated product-service system solutions in manufacturing industries. In The 14th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management (QUIS 14) (pp. 790-799).

Durugbo, C. and Erkoyuncu, J.A., 2016. Mitigating uncertainty for industrial service operations: a multi case study. International Journal of Operations & Production Management , 36 (5), pp.532-571.

Hafiz, N. and Alam, A.F., 2016. Applying SERVQUAL Model to Measure Online Customer Satisfaction in Package Delivery Services. JOURNAL STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABES-BOLYAI NEGOTIA .

Huotari, K. and Hamari, J., 2017. A definition for gamification: anchoring gamification in the service marketing literature. Electronic Markets , 27 (1), pp.21-31.

Xu, X., Wang, X., Li, Y. and Haghighi, M., 2017. Business intelligence in online customer textual reviews: Understanding consumer perceptions and influential factors. International Journal of information management , 37 (6), pp.673-683.

Cite this page

Similar essay samples.

Essay on the Effects of an Election in U.S.A.
Food Waste Management Quantitative Literature Review
Low Carbon Footprint
Research Proposal: Incel Community Ideologies and Mental Health
Essay on Team Project Contract
Business strategies for GlaxoSmithKline

ESSAY SAUCE

FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY

Essay: Service Marketing

Essay details and download:.

Subject area(s): Marketing essays
Reading time: 7 minutes
Price: Free download
Published: 16 June 2012*
File format: Text
Words: 1,888 (approx)
Number of pages: 8 (approx)

Text preview of this essay:

This page of the essay has 1,888 words. Download the full version above.

Service Marketing

Sustaining loyal customers are always an issues in marketing field (XXXX). In banking industry, maintaining customer loyalty is very important since the competition among banking companies show a tight competition. Gremler and Brown (1996:171) define customer loyalty as the degree to which a customer exhibits repeat purchasing behavior from a service provider, possesses a positive attitudinal disposition toward the provider, and considers using only this provider when the need for this service exists. Based on that definition, the importance of customer loyalty is customer will give great benefits to the institution such as, minimize the cost to get new customers, more efficient operation cost of institution, institution may deduct the psychological and social cost, and loyal customers will defend the institution even attract and recommends the institution to other people. Service quality plays important role in maintaining loyal customer, by affecting customer satisfaction and creates customer loyalty. Pollack (2009) explains that service quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, and further influences loyalty positively. It means that a business organization offering high quality service will increase customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. According to Lovelock and Wirtz (2007:15), quality service will have an effect on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction over the company can be achieved by providing excellent service quality. Highly satisfied or even delighted customers are more likely to become loyal customers of a firm; those customers will make repeat purchasing on one supplier, and spreads positive word of mouth. Dissatisfaction, in the contrary, causes customer away; it is the key factor of switching behavior. Satisfied customers buy again and tell others about their good experiences. Dissatisfied customers often switch to competitors and disparage the product to others.

Service quality also influences corporate image. Alfin et al. (2013) in research journal find the significant effect of service quality on corporate image. It means that the lower quality of the service results in lower image of the company. In addition, according to previous research by Huei and Easvaralingam (2011), it demonstrates that corporate image is a full mediator in the relationship between service quality and loyalty. Based on the research background, this study aims to investigate the effect of service quality, corporate image and customer satisfaction on customer loyaty. Furthermore, this study also would like to examine the indirect effect of service quality on customer loyalty through corporate image and customer satisfaction. Upon satisfying these two research objectives, this study contributes to both theoretical and academic perspectives. For theoretical perspective, this study would examine the relationships among important marketing variables namely service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty especially in Indonesia banking industry. In addition, this study would explore the mediating role of corporate image and customer satisfaction in the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty. In practical perspective, this study would be a guideline for banking companies in sustaining their customers.

Literature Review Service Marketing

A Service is any act or performance that one can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything (Kotler and Keller, 2009:789). Further, according to Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler (2009:4) service includes ‘all economic activities whose output is not a physical product or construction, is generally consumed at the time it is produced and provides added value in forms (such as convenient, amusement, timelines, comfort, or health) that are essentially tangible concerns of its first purchaser. Service marketing is a sub field of marketing, which can be split into two main areas of goods marketing (which includes the marketing of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and durables) and service marketing. Service marketing typically refers to both businesses to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) services. Service marketing refers to the marketing of services as against tangible products. As already discussed, services are inherently intangible, consumed simultaneously at the time of their production, and cannot be stored, saved or resold once they have been used; in addition, service offerings are unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same service provider. Good services firms use marketing to position themselves strongly in chosen target market. However, because services differ from tangible products, they often require additional marketing approaches (Kotler & Armstrong, 2009:253).

Service Quality Quality is one of the things that consumers look for in an offer, which service happens to be one (Solomon, 2009:413). Quality can also be defined as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or services that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (Kotler and Keller, 2012:153). It is evident that quality is also related to the value of an offer, which could generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the part of the user. Service quality in the management and marketing literature is the extent to which customers’ perceptions of service meet and/or exceed their expectations as defined by Zeithaml et al. (1990), cited in Bowen & David, 2005:340). Thus, service quality can intend to be the way in which customers are served in an organization which could be good or poor. Parasuraman defines service quality as ‘the differences between customer expectations and perceptions of service’ (Parasuraman, 1988). They argued that measuring service quality as the difference between perceived and expected service was a valid way and could make management to identify gaps to what they offer as services. The aim of providing quality services is to satisfy customers. Measuring service quality is a better way to dictate whether the services are good or bad and whether the customers will be or are satisfied with it. The service quality scale is designed to measure the gap between customers’ expectations of service and their perception of the actual delivered service. According to Parasuraman et al., (1988), there are five dimensions of service quality. They are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Corporate Image Corporate image is the perception that different audiences have of an organization and results from the audience’s interpretation of the hint presented by an organization (Kotler and Keller, 2006:299). Corporate image in service marketing literature was early identified as an important factor in the overall evaluation of the service and the company. Kotler and Armstrong (1990:495) mention that there are five criteria to measure image assessment in service industry customers i.e high integrity, innovative, friendly, knowledgeable, large As an important construct in marketing field, Gronroos (2001) contends that corporate image has several importance. First of all, corporate image telling hope with external marketing campaign, positive image makes the company easier to communicate and achieve its purpose effectively while negative image is giving bad perception. Second, it is as a sifter that influences the perception on company’s activities. Positive image becomes the protectors over small mistakes, technical quality or functional errors while negative image enlarges the mistakes. Third, corporate images as function of customer experience and hope on company service quality, and the last, it has an important in influencing on management or internal effect. Unclear and unreal corporate image affect employees attitude toward company. Customer Satisfaction Satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations (Kotler and Keller, 2009:164). If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds the expectations, the customer is highly satisfied and delighted. According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2007:9), customer satisfaction is individual perception on the performances of a product or service in relation to his or her expectation. Ferrel (2008:371) defines customer satisfaction as the degree to which a product meets or exceeds the customer’s expectations about the product. Consumer satisfaction has always been considered as an important business goal because if a consumer is satisfied with a product, service, or brand, then he would be more likely to repurchase it and tell others of their favorable experience with it. According to the Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory, satisfaction has traditionally been considered as the result of a cognitive process (Oliver, 1980:460). This theory is based on the assumption that consumer assesses product satisfaction by comparing their post purchase perception result with their expectation in such way that a result superior to the expectations (positive disconfirmation) will lead to satisfaction while the opposite effect (negative disconfirmation) will result in dissatisfaction. Based on this theory, therefore, consumer perception about the product or service after it is consumed is important in creating consumer satisfaction. Nowadays, customers always aim to get maximum satisfaction from the products or services they buy. Fully satisfied consumer are less likely to switch to competitors. Satisfied consumers are also more likely to spread positive words about the firm and its product (Ferrell and Hartline, 2008:363). More companies now recognize the importance of satisfying and retaining customer. Satisfied consumer constitutes the company’s customer relationship capital. If the company were to be sold, the acquiring company would have to pay not only for the plant and the equipment and the brand name, but also for the delivered customer base, the number and value of the customers who would do business with the new firm (Kotler and Keller, 2006:161). Moreover, it is a fact that acquiring new customers can cost five times greater than the cost involved in satisfying and retaining existing customers. Normally, an average company loses about 10 percent of its customer each year and just a 5 percent reduction of the consumer defection rate can increase the companies’ profits by 25 percent to 85 percent, depending on the industry. Mentzer et al., (1995: 45-46) state that maximizing customer satisfaction will maximize profitability and market share. It means that customer satisfaction has an important role to increase the customer loyalty and maximize the profit.

Customer Loyalty Loyalty is a consumer’s commitment to continue patronizing a specific firm over an extended period of time(Lovelock and Wirtz, 2011:621).Moreover, Oliver (1997:392) defines customer loyalty as a deeply held commitment to rebury or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior. According to Kotler, Hayes, and Bloom in Mardalis (2005:111), there are six reasons why an institution needs to get customer loyalty. First, loyal customers will give great benefits to the institution. Second, the cost to get new customers is more expensive than to keep and maintain existing customers. Third, the customers who already believe in the institution in an affair will believe also in other things. Fourth, operation cost of institution is more efficient if it has many loyal customers. Fifth, institution may deduct the psychological and social cost, because an old customer has had many positive experiences with institution. Sixth, loyal customers will defend the institution even attract and recommends the institution to other people. Customers perceive that they receive several benefits for being a loyal customer. These benefits can include a feeling of optimal satisfaction, a knowledge of what to expect from the service provider, confidence in the provider, friendship with employees, time savings from not having to search for a provider, and various types of special treatment (Glamer and Brown, 1996:176). Customers are the driving force for profitable growth; and, customer loyalty can lead to profitability (Hayes, 2008:22). Loyal customers are less likely to switch to other competitor and they even make more purchases than non-loyal customers. Therefore, loyal customers are considered to be the most important assets of a company.

...(download the rest of the essay above)

About this essay:

If you use part of this page in your own work, you need to provide a citation, as follows:

Essay Sauce, Service Marketing . Available from:<https://www.essaysauce.com/marketing-essays/service-marketing/> [Accessed 16-03-24].

These Marketing essays have been submitted to us by students in order to help you with your studies.

* This essay may have been previously published on Essay.uk.com at an earlier date.

Privacy Overview

Home / Essay Samples / Business / Marketing / Service Marketing

Service Marketing Essay Examples

A report on service marketing and customer care.

In this report I will be discussing about products and services marketing, first of all will be different between product and services and how fayeda travel and tourism use services marketing practices to reduce the marketing challenges created by the characteristics, secondly we will be...

Promoting Marketing According to the American Marketing Association

The American Marketing Association characterizes promoting as the movement, set of foundations and procedures for making, imparting, conveying and trading contributions that have an incentive for clients, customers, accomplices and society on the loose. Promoting includes fulfilling necessities and needs through a trade procedure. Advertising...

Analysis of Marketing and Servicescape of IKEA

IKEA is the world's largest retailer of home furnishings with a global network of 355 stores in 29 countries, selling a large range of products. IKEA's vision is to ‘create a better everyday life for the many people’. Consumers who shop in the store receive...

Service Marketing for Events, Tourism and Hospitality: the Case Study of Ryanair

According to Wirtz and Lovelock (2018), the right market segmentation, targeting and positioning make organisation identify which segment of the market is competing which can allow them to develop the right product for target customer in the particular market and position the company to develop...

Trying to find an excellent essay sample but no results?

Don’t waste your time and get a professional writer to help!